Sensational debut

Even when she gets lost on the course, Ida cross country runner Ashley Sorge is just about unbeatable.

The freshman sensation has won seven of nine races including invitationals in the greatest high school debut since Jefferson's Bekah Smeltzer eight years ago.

Sorge took wrong turns at the Jefferson, Dundee and Clay Invitationals, but still won two of those meets. The mistake cost her first place at Clay. She was second at the Hudson Booster Invitational last weekend, but broke Gerri Rollins' 17-year-old school record by running 18:50.9.

"We've never had anybody go undefeated for a season, but Ashley's come pretty close," said coach Doug Rauner. "She's fantastic to coach. She'll talk to you about anything. She has a great sense of humor. She's a great kid."

The daughter of Timothy and Elizabeth Sorge also is modest, saying she's terrible in other sports.

"I tried basketball and I couldn't really seem to shoot the ball. I didn't make the team in seventh grade. I just don't have hand-eye coordination," she said. "If you see run the shuttle race, your can see what I mean."

But she can run. She broke the school record in the 400 on field day as a fifth grader. Her eighth-grade counselor encouraged her to run cross country, but Sorge was nervous because she didn't know if she could run three miles.

"In eighth grade, Mrs. (Jennifer) Butz told me we were going to have a cross country team for middle school but we ended up not having one," Sorge recalled. "I ended up a team of one running with Rachel Boulton from the Monroe Milers. I was kind of lonely at meets, but I still got medals."

She also set junior high school records in the 800 and two-mile as an eighth-grader. But high school presented a new challenge.

"It seemed like it (cross country) was really, really far," she said. "At my first practice my coach asked me, 'Are you ready to go four miles?' I said sure, but it was really excruciating. Now I'm used to it."

Ashley is the youngest of four children and the only daughter. Eric is 20 and twins Justin and Adam are 17. Growing up with brothers helped make her competitive, but she believes that distance running is just a talent she was given.

"I honestly think that this is the gift that God has given me to use," she said. "No offense to my parents, but they just don't have it (running ability). I think I can use it to help other people. My dad said that if I try my best that other people will be able to follow me."

But in one way, cross country isn't a perfect fit.

"I have a major problem with directions," she said. "I'm just not that good at remembering which way to go. Even if I know, I doubt myself. In my first race I turned too early and got lost. I was far enough ahead that it didn't really matter, but I had to sprint to make up for the time I lost. The second time, I stopped because I didn't know which way to go."

She ran six miles a day over the summer and plans to up that to 10 miles daily next year. "If Coach tells her to do it, she'll do it even if she doesn't feel like it," her mother said.

Sorge also is a good technical runner.

"I have a natural large stride, so I just focus on keeping that big," she said. "I try to establish a breathing pattern and not pant. And I try to keep as many miles consistent (pace) as I can."

She is a good student who has gotten straight A's the last two years. "I struggle with tests," she said. "I'm someone that analyzes whatever I do, but in a test you can't ask a teacher about every question."

She appears well on her way to shattering all the goals Rauner set for her this season: top three in all LCAA meets, top five in all other invitationals, school record time (was 18:56) and beating the Ida girls record time at state (19:14). Her times are still coming down. The Monroe County Region record is 17:40, set by Milan's Jordan Tomecek at the 2008 state meet.

Sorge's speed has created a dilemma. She wants to put her team first and enjoys being with her teammates, but Rauner says she has to run with the boys team to be challenged.

"It's difficult that I don't get to talk to them (girls) sometimes, but I want to do my best for the team," she said. "The guys aren't bad. They're funny and everything."

Sorge participated in gymnastics from ages 4 to 10. She still enjoys jumping on the trampoline, building forts in the woods with her friends and playing "Call of Duty" on the computer with her dad and brothers. She also plays the piano, clarinet and bass clarinet.

Mrs. Sorge said her daughter "wants to do good. She's a good person. She's not rebellious. She looks at the positives in things."

Ashley is a member of Westgate Chapel in Toledo and says she enjoys talking to God while she runs. "I think of it as a relationship," she said. "He's my friend. I enjoy having a friend with me when I'm running."

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